A personal injury lawyer may generally be the lawyer type that deals with truck accidents. The American Bar Association (ABA) notes that motor vehicle collisions—including truck accidents—generally fall within the realm of personal injury law, and so a personal injury lawyer may be the one you contact for legal services after your truck accident.
Your lawyer may begin serving you by protecting your rights immediately following your truck accident.
Preserving Your Rights Post-Accident
The events that ensue just after your accident could have a long-lasting impact—on your ability to obtain a fair insurance settlement, to win a lawsuit, and potentially in other ways. Calling a lawyer as soon as possible after your accident is one way to protect your rights.
For example, a lawyer can handle communications with insurance companies to reduce the stress you endure while you are recovering from your injuries. They can also help you gather evidence for your case to avoid accepting a sum that would not fairly compensate you for your losses both now and in the future.
A Lawyer’s Role After Your Accident
A lawyer can help you with your case in a variety of ways. Their duties may include:
- Determining the cause of your truck accident, and who is responsible for causing the collision.
- Handling insurance negotiations on your behalf, keeping you aware of compensation offers that you receive.
- Monitoring your losses and assigning a running value to the losses you suffer.
- Advising you on whether insurance compensation offers are fair, or whether it may be worth it for you to pursue a lawsuit.
If you do pursue a lawsuit, your lawyer’s initial goal may be to obtain a settlement that compensates you fairly. The New York Times explains the potential benefits of settling rather than going to trial—though your lawyer can complete your lawsuit through a trial if necessary.
Within the context of your lawsuit, your lawyer may:
- Extract and organize evidence that shows you were not at fault, or only partially at fault, for your truck accident.
- Interview witnesses and record their accounts.
- File your lawsuit.
- File any additional paperwork necessary to complete your lawsuit.
- Document the injuries you suffered because of your accident.
- Calculate your total losses.
- Negotiate a settlement, which may require your lawyer to lay out their argument for why another party is responsible for your losses.
- Completing a trial if necessary.
- Protecting your rights.
Your lawyer may establish the negligence of one or more parties by:
- Showing that the defendant owed you a duty of care, which means that they were not to take actions that put you at an unreasonable risk of suffering harm.
- Proving that the defendant breached their duty of care to you or your loved one through some action, or by failing to take one or more precautionary actions.
- Establishing a causal link between the defendant’s breach of duty of care and your truck accident.
- Showing that the accident is to blame for your losses.
Proving negligence is essential to winning compensation for you or your loved one. Choosing a lawyer deals with truck accidents can help you with your specific case.
Possible Compensation from a Truck Accident
The types of compensation that you may be entitled to after a truck accident will likely depend on the specific losses that you have suffered because of the collision. Some of the possible losses that you may receive compensation for include:
- The medical costs of diagnosing, treating, and documenting your injuries
- The cost of rehabilitation for your physical injuries
- The cost of therapy and other forms of treatment for your psychological or emotional trauma
- Income that you have lost, and could lose going forward, because of injuries caused by your truck accident
- A decline in your earning power due to injuries suffered in your truck accident
- Any permanent disability, chronic pain, or disfigurement resulting from your accident
- Property damage, whether to your vehicle or other items impacted by the accident
- The pain and suffering that you have experienced because of your accident
You may be entitled to additional losses, including in the case that your loved one died because of a truck accident. A lawyer may speak with you about the sum of losses they will seek compensation for through your lawsuit.
Call Ben Crump Law, PLLC Today
A lawyer can fight for you or your loved one after a truck accident resulted in injury or death. The team at Ben Crump Law, PLLC does not shy away from tough cases and offers a contingency-fee payment structure so that you do not pay any upfront or out of pocket.
Call us today at (800) 235-0444.
